RELAF participates in the International Seminar "¡Niñ@Sur es hora!: Free of violence against children and adolescents by 2030" and in the 25TH Regular Meeting of the Standing Committee for the Niñ@SUR Initiative

Within the framework of the 25th Regular Meeting of the Standing Committee for the Niñ@SUR Initiative, which took place in Montevideo between May 25 and 26, the International Seminar "¡Niñ@Sur es hora!: Free of violence against children and adolescents by 2030" was carried out on May 23 and 24. There, experts from UNICEF and the Organisation of American States (OAS), as well as experts and representatives from governments and the civil society, met.

Víctor Giorgi, Director of the Inter-American Children's Institute of the OAS, highlighted the importance of and need for a cultural and social change regarding violence against children and adolescents, since "only the law is not enough". The issue of cyberbullying, which is suffered by many children, was also addressed, pointing out the importance of making young people aware and conscious of the way they communicate with each other and with their families, a topic seldom talked about, either by them or by their families.

We’d like to highlight the talk given by our colleague, Dr. Jorge Volnovich, who warned of the seriousness of the many institutionalisation cases that are made ​​in an effort to protect children, who are then controlled with the administration of psychiatric medication. This is an issue that has already been discussed at Niñ@Sur but that has not been taken with the seriousness it deserves yet.

On the first day of the 25th Regular Meeting of the Standing Committee for the Niñ@SUR Initiative, the initiative "It's time to end violence against children and adolescents" was presented by Marta Santos Pais, Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Violence against Children. She made special emphasis on institutional violence inflicted upon institutionalised children and adolescents, including those deprived of freedom.

On the second day, a special roundtable on alternative care was held, focusing on the progresses and challenges found in the region in relation to the prevention of separations, the adequacy of care programmes and methods, and the need to multiply and replicate foster care programmes.

During the roundtable, we made a statement congratulating States due to their considering advances in family strengthening policies as one of the strategic pillars to promote deinstitutionalisation processes, and we welcomed the recognition of institutionalisation as a form of violence against children.

We also made the following recommendations:

1. RELAF emphasises that policies to strengthen families need to come from agencies specialised in childhood, from the basis of a strategy to prevent neglect, unnecessary separations and institutionalisation, using a triple approach: integrality, intersectorality and responsibility. 
2. Regarding alternative care, we advocate its adoption, as well as the creation of protocols and evaluation and monitoring mechanisms key to its effectiveness. Particularly, that foster care practices be strengthened, consolidated and expanded, which necessarily implies providing foster care programmes with higher budgets and skilled and technically prepared human resources for their successful implementation at all stages.

Another challenge in this regard is the creation of specialised programs, such as foster care programmes for children up to three years of age, children with disabilities and migrant children, among other specific groups.